c thông điệp của TQ về cam kết hopwj tác pragmatic cooperation, and enhanced China’s image as a constructive playerin the region, observers said.. Ruan Zongze, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said Wang’s first tripto the four Southeast Asian countries displayed the new Chinese leadership’s diplomaticpriority on ties with neighbors. The trip followed President Xi Jinping‘s first trip in March toRussia and emerging economies in Africa.

"The visit demonstrates that China’s ties with Southeast Asian countries are stable and have asound basis and the ties with ASEAN members are not as fragile as hyped by some mediareports," Ruan said.

During his stopover in Brunei on Saturday, Wang and his counterpart agreed to intensifyexchanges, increase mutual trust and advance cooperation, thereby contributing to theprosperity and development of the region.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the strategic partnership betweenChina and ASEAN. The trip was made amid ups and downs of maritime disputes regardingChina and some ASEAN m

We should be cautious of some parties and countries provocations and trouble-making movesin this region for the sake of their own interests," Wang said at the joint news conference aftermeeting with his Indonesian counterpart on Thursday, a clear response to accusations ofChina’s so-called assertive posture regarding the South China Sea.

In Singapore and Thailand, Wang and leaders from the countries pledged to further expandand deepen the strategic partnership between China and ASEAN, as the latter works onestablishing an ASEAN "community" and accelerates regional integration.

As for China’s position on South China Sea issues, Wang stressed in the news conferenceafter meeting his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa that the Chinese government has aclear, steadfast and consistent resolve in safeguarding state sovereignty and territorialintegrity.

Luo Yongkun, a researcher at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, saidthe South China Sea issue has been played up under the media limelight against the backdropof the changed geopolitical structure in the region, especially Washington’s pivoting of its Asiapolicies in recent years.

"Some so-called US allies in the region hoped to take the opportunity to contain China," Luosaid.

Manila claimed on April 26 that an international arbitration court had set up a tribunal to which ittook the South China Sea dispute for a verdict in January

China rejected the Philippine move, demanding the country withdraw all its nationals andfacilities from the islands and reefs that are "illegally occupied".

"The Philippines’ drive for international arbitration has run against the spirit of the DOC(Declaration on the Conduct of Parties) because the declaration requires contending parties toresolve territorial issues through bilateral negotiations," said Wu Shicun, director of the NationalInstitute for South China Sea Studies.

However, there is no major trouble in communication between China and ASEAN membersbecause they have a series of dialogue channels in place, including the ASEAN RegionalForum and the 10+1 grouping, Luo said.

China has always remained open to discussions on the Code of Conduct in the South ChinaSea, Wang said at the news conference on Thursday

THX 5/5: ve chuyen tham NT TQ taij nam nuoc DNA: China and ASEAN members have reached consensus that the twosides are fully capable of maintaining peace and stability in the region, including on the SouthChina Sea, visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday before wrapping up a five-day visit. Wang said the shared idea was the mostimportant consensus achieved during his four-nation tour which took him to Thailand,Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei. During the four-nation tour, China and the four countries have defined the directions of futurebilateral cooperation, in view of each other’s development strategy, Wang said.. From a strategic perspective of promoting multi-polarization in the world and common progressin developing nations, China offers staunch support for ASEAN and its integration endeavor,Wang said.

China is willing to enhance its strategic partnership with ASEAN, vigorously push forward keyprojects of connectivity and maritime cooperation, and jointly contribute to regional peace andprosperity, he add

THX 2/5 v.v NT TQ gặp TTK Asean Lương Minh: Visiting Chinese Foreign Minster Wang Yi said on Thursday that in view ofpromoting global multi- polarization and beefing up solidarity among developing countries,China sincerely hopes the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) to make continuousachievements in its development. China’s new government will continue to encourage ASEAN to increasingly develop and growstronger, firmly support ASEAN in its construction of the ASEAN Community and integrationprocess, and firmly support ASEAN in continuing to play a leading role in regional cooperation,Wang said when meeting with ASEAN’s Secretary-General Le Luong Minh.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of strategical partnership betweenChina and ASEAN, it also marks a new historic starting point for the relations between the two,Wang said.

On the basis of summing up the successful experiences of exchanges and cooperation, the twoshould make joint efforts to map out the blueprint of friendly cooperation for the next decadeand jointly take actively measures to boost the development of the strategical partnership,Wang stressed.

Wang also pointed out that the two sides should focus on strengthening interconnection andinterworking, making good use of the China-ASEAN maritime cooperation fund to promotemaritime cooperation, and actively boosting the establishment of regional comprehensiveeconomic partnership based on ASEAN+1 and ASEAN+3 in bid to safeguard and expand thejustified rights and interests of developing nations.

Le Luong Minh expressed his appreciation of China’s substantial support to ASEAN and to theASEAN-China relationship. He said that the ASEAN-China strategical partnership coversextensive fields and is vibrant, adding ASEAN was willing to facilitate the anniversarycelebration activities along with China.

He also noted ASEAN was set to deepen in an all-round way the cooperation with China in awide range of fields including politics, construction of free trade zone, science and technologyand health, so as to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability and boost mutualdevelopment

During his meeting with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Wang said Thailand is animportant country in the region and a long-time friendly neighbor and strategic partner ofChina.

Sino-Thai relationship, which is "unique, stable and important", will play an "exemplary" role inthe development of China’s relations with ASEAN as a whole, the foreign minister said.

On her part, Yingluck noted that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment ofstrategical partnership between China and ASEAN. She said Thailand, as the countrycoordinator of China-ASEAN relations, will continue to facilitate cooperation in various fieldsbetween the two sides.

Speaking highly of the time-honored friendly relations between Thailand and China, Yinglucksaid her country is willing to deepen comprehensive cooperation with China, by increasingpolitical communication and maintaining the momentum of strong growth in bilateral trade.

The lady prime minister also welcomed more Chinese people to visit the kingdom.

Wang said China’s new leadership, which took office in March, will continue to enrich itstraditional friendship with Thailand and transform the political ties between the two countriesinto a strong driving force to boost mutual beneficial cooperation.

The foreign minister suggested that China and Thailand deepen cooperation in fields of watermanagement, railway, new energy and education and expand exchanges in science, defence,tourism, etc.

He said China expects to closely coordinate with Thailand in dealing with international andregional issues.

When asked why choosing ASEAN countries as the first destination of his official visit as foreignminister, Wang said China always attaches great importance to cementing ties with the bloc, aclose neighbor. "It showcases that China’s new leadership highly values its relations withASEAN," he said.

The foreign minister said China-ASEAN relations now stand on a new starting point which willusher in more new opportunities

To clarify the stance of China’s new leadership on ASEAN, Wang said China is committed tostrengthening its good-neighborly and friendly cooperation with ASEAN, consolidating itsstrategic partnership with ASEAN and conducting friendly consultations to properly handledifferences and problems with some members of the bloc.

At the invitation of Suraporn, Wang arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday for a two-day official visit.This is the first leg of his six-day ASEAN trip which will also take him to Indonesia, Singaporeand Brunei.

China daily: 29/4: AKARTA – Secretary-General of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Le LuongMinh said on Monday that foreign ministers of ASEAN member countries will have a meetingwith their Chinese counterpart in Beijing to further discuss peaceful settlement on territorialdisputes in the South China Sea.

"The meeting between ASEAN foreign affairs ministers and Chinese foreign affairs minister hasbeen scheduled in August or September this year in Beijing," Minh told Xinhua on the sidelinesof a media briefing on the results of the recent high-profile ASEAN Summit held in Bandar SeriBegawan, Brunei.

He said that during the summit, all ASEAN members agreed to assign their foreign ministries tocontinue to work actively with China on the way forward for early conclusion of a Code ofConduct in the South China Sea (COC) on the basis of consensus.

In his briefing, Minh said that ASEAN leaders reaffirmed the importance of peace, stability andmaritime security in the region. They also underscored the importance of the Declaration onthe Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), ASEAN’s six-point Principles on theSouth China Sea and the Joint Statement of the 10th anniversary of the DOC.

"In this regard, we reaffirmed the collective commitments under the DOC to ensuring thepeaceful resolution of dispute in accordance with universally recognized principles ofinternational law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea withoutresorting to the threat or use of force, while exercising self-restraint in the conduct of activities,"Minh said in the briefing. He added that ASEAN is looking forward to continued engagement with China in implementingthe DOC in a full and effective manner, including through mutually agreed joint cooperativeactivities and projects

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, May 5 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid an official visit to Brunei Darussalam on May 4, 2013. The two sides issued a joint press release. The text is as follows:

At the invitation of His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei Darussalam, Foreign Minister Wang Yi of the People’s Republic of China visited Brunei Darussalam on 4 May 2013.

During the visit, Foreign Minister Wang Yi was received in audience by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and held talks with His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The two sides spoke highly of His Majesty’s state visit to China in April 2013 and agreed to implement in full the important agreement reached between the leaders of the two countries.

The two sides expressed their belief that the establishment of the strategic cooperative relationship between the two countries represented a milestone.

The two sides recognized the important progress made in energy cooperation and agreed to actively advance exchanges and cooperation in economic, trade, security, cultural and other areas to enrich these strategic cooperative relationships.

China reiterated that it fully supported Brunei Darussalam in hosting the important regional meetings as the rotating chair of ASEAN in 2013, and supported ASEAN’s central role in regional cooperation.

The two sides agreed to take the opportunity of the 10th anniversary of the China-ASEAN strategic partnership to intensify exchanges; increase mutual trust; and advance cooperation vigorously in important areas such as connectivity, maritime affairs and regional economic integration thus contributing to the prosperity and development of the region.

The two sides believed that the mainstream of China-ASEAN relations is good-neighborly friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation. China and ASEAN, as strategic partners, have the ability to maintain peace and stability in the region. The current disputes are not an issue between China and ASEAN and they should be peacefully resolved through friendly consultations and negotiations between the parties directly concerned.

All parties should implement the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in a comprehensive and effective way, carry out and strengthen maritime practical cooperation, advance the Code of Conduct (COC) progress in a step by step manner during the implementation of the consensus. In this process, all parties should increase communication, build consensus, promote mutual trust and confidence.

The two sides agreed to continue to hold the SOM on implementation of the DOC; hold the Joint Working Group meeting on the implementation of the DOC in Thailand in May this year; and discuss how to advance the COC process under this framework.

The two sides also agreed to establish an Eminent Persons and Experts Group (EPEG) on COC and that discussions under the EPEG and the Joint Working Group would reinforce and complement each other.